In recent times, utility poles have been impregnated with preservatives in order to improve their durability.
However, such preservatives have also rendered the poles harder and more resistant to the penetration of gaffs. As a result, linemen have found it increasingly more difficult and dangerous to climb these impregnated poles.
A new gaff was designed to improve the penetration into these poles, as described and illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,679,658; issued: July 14, 1987.
The new gaff design featured a prism shaped gaff having teeth running along one surface and a number of grooves running along the other two sides of the prism body.
This gaff had both teeth and grooves disposed along the gaff body in order to abrade the wood upon penetration. It was believed that the abrasive action of these combined teeth and grooved surfaces assisted the point of the gaff to further penetrate the wood.
While the aforementioned patented gaff improved the ability to penetrate hard wood, the theory and effectiveness of the gaff was not well understood, and was believed to be in need of further improvement.
It has now been discovered that the teeth actually add frictional resistance to the advancement of the gaff into the wood, and therefore, it is better to keep the top surface of the gaff smooth.
In addition, it has also been discovered that a better method of penetrating the wood lies in relieving the compression of the wood upon initiated penetration and then following the decompression of wood with alternating compressive, decompressive and compressive forces.
A gaff designed to practice this method is described hereinafter.